Notre Dame lights it up with Girls’ Sweet 16- record 17 threes against Pikeville
Notre Dame’s Sarah Young got introduced as a 5-foot-6 junior before the Pandas’ first-round game against Pikeville in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena on Wednesday night.
Young, who actually stands 6-foot-2, is also listed as Notre Dame’s fourth-best 3-point shooter in terms of makes, attempts and percentage, according to Notre Dame’s season stats.
Turns out, that might have been an even bigger understatement.
Young’s two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game signaled trouble for 15th Region champion Pikeville, who ended up seeing the Pandas make a state tournament record 17 3-pointers in a 77-38 blowout in which Notre Dame shot a blistering 65.4 percent from beyond the arc.
“I don’t usually score that many threes. I maybe get like one or two a game,” said Young, who finished with 16 points that included making four of her five 3-point attempts — all in the first half. “But, you know, they were letting me shoot it earlier, and then once I hit a few, I just kept shooting them, and they were just going in. So it just opened it up for everybody else.”
Amelia Stallard and Emma Holtzapfel each went 5 for 6 from 3-point range, scoring 19 points apiece. Joslyn LaBordeaux-Humphrey went 1 for 2 from deep among her nine points. Kylee Wagner knocked down two 3-pointers and scored eight.
Stallard hit the 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that tied Mercer County’s 2018 record of 16 3-pointers in a state tournament game. Wagner knocked down the record-breaker two minutes later.
“It feels so good. That’s like what we work for,” Stallard said of the achievement. “Everyone can shoot the three on our team, and if you stop one of us, another one’s going to step up and start hitting. So it’s not really something that we focus on, like breaking a record, but it’s always nice to, like, have a little fun with it.”
Notre Dame coach George Stoll had been told by his staff in the second half that his team was approaching the record, but said he didn’t change strategy because of it.
“We were just playing basketball. We did a good job in transition finding shooters. … They were just hitting,” Stoll said.
The Pandas (25-7) made 10 threes in the first half on 15 attempts on the way to a 36-16 halftime lead. Stoll feigned more concern that his team was 1 for 7 on its other shots in the first two quarters.
“I think we showed today that we can get hot, and when we shoot it well, we can be very tough to beat,” Stoll said. “I know how hard these girls work. These three right here (Stallard, Holtzapfel and Young) get shots up all the time, staying after practice all the time, just shoot, shoot, shoot. And in games like this, it pays off.”
Notre Dame features three players 5-11 or taller, including Young and Holtzapfel. Pikeville’s tallest player is 5-foot-8. The Pandas’ length clearly bothered the Panthers, and Notre Dame’s shot-making ability bordered on the absurd.
“We tried the best we could, and I felt like the effort was there, but they didn’t miss,” Pikeville coach Denise Campbell said. “If there was a hand in the face or if the hand wasn’t in the face, they knocked down shots. I have to commend them on a great game, but I’m also proud of these girls for not quitting.”
Kylie Alvin, Pikeville’s 15th Region player of the year and Miss Basketball finalist, led the Panthers (22-9) with 21 points.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 9:43 PM.
